Wargaming

I'm Alan E Brain, and I'm a Wargamer.

There, it's out of the bag. I get my jollies out of creating and playing "military simulations", be they they implemented on computer, on cardboard, or even the traditional toy soldiers. (I've had some little design input to all of the systems linked to).

I've also been involved in making non-commercial simulations, over at HMAS Watson, and the Combat Data Systems Centre (CDSC) at Fyshwick, amongst other places.

Unfortunately, I have to keep the two activities separate - gaming WW2 and Space Opera are safe enough, but nothing closer to reality unless doing defence work.

But it seems I'm not alone - the Australian Labor Party is into Wargaming too. From News Ltd :

Recluse former Labor leader Mark Latham will challenge his party's account of his election loss in a book to be published this year.
Mr Latham will set out his version of the campaign in a book by journalist Bernard Lagan to be called The Loner: Inside a Labor Tragedy.

It is understood Mr Latham will question the handling by senior campaign officers of two prime election issues: interest rates and his time as mayor of Liverpool.

"There's quite a lot of what he thinks went wrong," a source who has seen the manuscript said yesterday.

"He has a very firm view of what went wrong, why it went wrong and who is to blame. And the party has an equally strong view of what went wrong, and they don't coincide."

ALP figures are aware of the general contents and want to be ready to counter Mr Latham's arguments.

"We war-gamed interest rates. We war-gamed Liverpool Council. He can't say he didn't know they would be issues," one senior Labor source said.

There you go. I've wargamed everything from Gaugamela to Albuera, River Plate to Java Sea. But never have I wargamed Liverpool Council.

I've come close though.